Double The Ache

“I’m going to give you to the count of three. Then I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here. This isn’t a threat. I’m giving you the play we’re about to run.”

“Did you give that waitress the same one?” She crosses her arms over her chest and raises her chin at me in a challenge.

“Wait, are you, like, dating him?” the guys asks.

“Both of us, actually,” Dean chimes in, not the least bit ashamed.

“Hey, that’s cool. I was just looking to smash anyway. Since you guys share, you mind if I take her to the bathroom?”

There’s an echo in my ears, and my vision goes red. I blink a few times, but unfiltered anger clouds all my senses as I turn my body to look at the dumbest motherfucker I’ve ever met.

“What the hell did you just say?” Amelia asks before either Dean or I can speak.

“No offense,” he says, holding up his hands. “I just figured if these two guys were running a train, I want to get on board.” He has the balls to wink at her, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.

I lunge for him at the same time Dean does, knocking him out of his chair and to the floor. I hear the sounds of glass and plates smashing, and other people in the bar start shouting.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I hear Amelia begging us not to kill the guy, but I’m like a bull and he’s a red flag. I need to make sure this guy doesn’t use his mouth again. Ever.

Adrenaline is pumping in my veins and I don’t know exactly what happens, but when I feel strong hands on my arms pulling me off of him, I don’t fight because I know it’s Dean.

“Fuck, people are filming,” he says, and I look around the bar to see he’s right. It’s not super crowded, but one video sold to the right people and this might as well be the Super Bowl.

I turn around and see Amelia standing there, frozen, with her hands over her mouth. Before her eyes can meet mine, I stomp over to her and do what I said I was going to. I throw her over my shoulder and watch as Dean tosses some bills on the table and grabs her stuff.

She’s silent as I storm through the casino, mad as fuck and scared to death. The thought of anyone treating her like less than a queen enrages me. That’s our job. We’re the ones who are going to take care of her and make sure she has everything she wants. And it scares the shit out of me to see how easily we could lose it. What if she saw what we did to that guy and she doesn’t want to be around us anymore? That’s not who we are, but we’ll fight to the death for her.

Dean pulls out his phone and I see him send our driver a text. When we go outside to the front of the casino, he’s waiting with the door open and we slide in. I hold Amelia tight in my lap as Dean tells him to take us home.

We ride in silence and I look straight ahead. I’m terrified to see the fear in her eyes when she looks at me, and I’m not ready to face it.

Dean is on his phone, probably texting our team media coordinator to make sure that what just happened doesn’t go viral. And that the guy we just beat up doesn’t sue us. This is going to reflect badly on the team, and though I never want to bring anything down on them, I don’t regret for a second what we did. If this turns into something major I’ll walk away from football if I have to. Amelia is more important to us than that.

When we get to our building, I carry her in my arms to the elevator and Dean hits the button for us to go up. When we get to our floor, I don’t go to Amelia’s place. Instead I go to our door and Dean opens it for us. When we get inside I head straight to the bedroom. We need to talk and it’s easiest to do it there because we can keep her from running.

I sit her down on the bed, then Dean sits down beside her and I kneel in front of her. I open my mouth to say something, but she looks up and bursts into tears.

“I’m so sorry,” she cries, and I look at Dean, who looks as shocked as I feel.

“No, baby, we’re sorry,” he says, wrapping his arm around her.

“I probably got you guys in so much trouble. I was just being a brat. I didn’t want to leave because I got jealous you were flirting with that hot hostess.”